


Not So Secret

by theunfabulousauthor



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-16
Updated: 2019-08-24
Packaged: 2020-09-02 00:04:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20266747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theunfabulousauthor/pseuds/theunfabulousauthor
Summary: Secrets are pretty hard to keep. Just ask Marinette who right after learning she had to keep her civilian identity a secret, spilled her true first name to her new partner. Lucky for her, there's no way she'll encounter her new partner in civilian life and be found out. Or is there?❤ Based on an AU concept by yunyin on Tumblr ❤





	1. Chapter 1

_She could do this, she could do this, she could do this._ Marinette silently tried to give herself a pep talk as she walked across the balcony above her apartment. She ran over the information that Tikki (who apparently was in fact not a floating bug mouse thing) had told her silently in her head. All she had to do was find this partner of hers, work with them to defeat this monster guy, destroy the object the akuma (whatever that was) was in, and hide before she transformed back into herself. Simple, right?

She took a deep breath and placed a hand on her side, a yoyo sitting beneath her palm. Picking it up she laughed. 

"What am I supposed to do with this?" she wondered aloud. She played with the yoyo slightly, toying with it like a normal yoyo toy. 

_I guess I could amuse children with cool yoyo tricks,_ she thought and chuckled at what she thought was a clever little idea. Testing the durability of the yoyo that she assumed must be magical, she threw the red disc out into the distance only thinking it would go so far. To her surprise and amazement, it went much, much farther than she was expecting. 

Before she could comprehend what was happening, she was flying off of her balcony and over the buildings throughout the city she called home. Before she knew it, she was slowly descending, her spotted yoyo flying back to join her on her journey down towards the ground. As she began to pick up momentum in her downward descent, she saw a silhouette begin to form.

Realizing she was about to crash land into the silhouette, she let out a yell, in part trying to warn the figure but mostly out of fear of the impact. She watched as the figure, who she could now tell was clad in a black leather catsuit and walking along a metal pole, looked up to her in confusion. 

Before she could even register what was happening, she collided with the figure and they both started falling to the ground. Marinette closed her eyes tightly, accepting what was sure to be her imminent death upon impact with the stones that made the road, but it never came. She opened her eyes tentatively to find herself tangled up in the string of her yoyo, upside down and chest to chest with the mysterious figure.

"Well, it's nice to see that you've dropped on by," a male voice said. 

Marinette gave him a shy and nervous smile. "I'm really sorry about that. I didn't do it on purpose." 

The boy quickly wiggled out of the predicament and landed in a graceful crouch on the ground. Marinette used her yoyo to float down to the ground. She held onto the string of her yoyo as she faced the boy who was now standing right in front of her.

"Hey, you must be this partner my kwami had mentioned. It's nice to meet you. You can call me..." he paused slightly thinking of something before snapping his gloved fingers and facing her. "Chat Noir. Yeah... I like it, Chat Noir. And you are?" 

Marinette smiled at him. His name was Chat Noir. He seemed charming and kind, especially since he didn't seem all that upset about the way in which they met. Still holding onto the string of her yoyo, she responded far too quickly without any thought and said the one thing she should have never said.

"I'm Marinette," she said and instantly regretted it. She knew the blood had drained from her face and she watched as Chat Noir put the pieces together.

"So is that your superhero persona as well?" he asked with a cheeky grin pointed across his face.

"Oh my God, no no no no no," Marinette quickly covered and she pulled on the string of her yoyo. 

"Then what do you suppose I should call you?" he asked as he began to lean forward towards her. 

"You can call me..." she trailed off as she yanked her yoyo and it finally came flying down along with the metal pole Chat had been walking across earlier. Both items flew down and hit Chat on his head and Marinette immediately cringed. "Oh man, I'm madly clumsy."

"Well Madly Clumsy, like I said, I'm Chat Noir," Chat Noir said as he rubbed his head where the yoyo and baton had hit him.

"Dad jokes, huh? Can I expect a lot of those in this partnership?" she asked as she held her yoyo in her hands.

"Well I can't tell you all of my secrets right now," he laughed.

In the distance buildings began to shake and loud rumbles spread throughout the city. Chat shared a glance with Marinette before they both looked back into the direction where the action was waiting. Chat let a grin appear on his face before he looked back to Marinette.

"Now come on clumsy, we have a rock monster to stop," Chat said as he picked up his baton and launched himself into the distance.

With doubts still weighing heavily on her shoulders, Marinette decided to launch her yoyo into the same direction Chat had gone. How could she have been so stupid as to reveal her _real_ first name? Could Chat even keep a secret? She herself had no idea who was behind his mask. He hadn't told her his first name, that was for sure. 

_Just because he knows your name doesn't mean he knows you in real life,_ Marinette reminded herself and she tried to shrug off the worry and regret of her accidental slip. She cautiously landed on the top rim of the stadium and looked down to survey the scene. She watched in fear as she watched Chat fight against the large stone monster.

For a split second she and Chat locked eyes and she heard Chat's voice call out to her.

"A little help here?"

Marinette stood frozen in fear. She watched as Chat tried to play defense against the stone giant and watched in horror as the giant spun around and grabbed one of the nets and threw it as hard as he could. He managed to miss hitting Chat head on, but the goal bounced off of the ground in the direction of a girl crouched in the background. When Marinette squinted she could make out the figure of Alya, the girl she had met and befriended that morning in class. She almost let herself scream, but thankfully Chat threw his baton and it deflected the goal post. 

Chat stood himself up and let out a proud chuckle, and for a split second, Marinette let herself smile at the charming boy she was calling her partner. However as soon as she had let herself smile, Chat was scooped into the hand of the stone monster and was staring up at the monster in worry. 

Marinette's attention was pulled away from Chat only when she heard that familiar voice call out to her.

"What are you waiting for Super Red Bug? The world is watching you!" Alya called out to her and she let it set in that the statement was true.

Marinette's fist balled beside her and she let her confidence push her fear to the side. With one sweeping motion she took a step to the edge and threw her yoyo, wrapping it around the shoulder of the monster. She pulled herself forward, sliding through the gap between his legs, skidding to a halt and holding on tightly to the yoyo string. 

"Animal cruelty? That's just shameful," she told the stunned monster and pulled the string, causing him to fall backwards. 

Chat fell out of the hand of the monster and rolled past Marinette and into the net, sitting with his legs splayed out in front of him. Marinette ran over to him offering a hand which he took. 

"Sorry it took me so long," she apologized. 

"No problem, M, now, let's kick this monster's rocky behind," Chat said and began to take off in the monster's direction before Marinette quickly grabbed the tail of his suit.

"Chat, he grows every time we hit him, just running at him won't do anything," she said and she began to try and take in every inch of the scene to create a critical conclusion and form a plan of action. 

"Well what do you propose we do?" he asked and Marinette was at a loss. 

She tried to come up with a solution as quickly as she could, but there was still nothing popping up. No plans, no ideas... Nothing. She looked up to Chat to try and find if he had an idea but all she was greeted with was the face of her new partner frustrated.

"I don't know," she admitted and he let out a small huff of air.

"Well, why don't we just use these powers we have. Might as well give them a go," Chat said and immediately yelled out the single word "Cataclysm" for his power. Black bubbles surrounded his hand and he looked at it in amazement. 

"Apparently I can destroy whatever I touch," he said with a smirk and Marinette rolled her eyes. 

"I don't need a superpower to do that," she mumbled.

Testing his new power out Chat pressed his hand gently against the pole of the goal post before Marinette could even stop him. He grinned at what he had just done and set his focus onto the stone monster across the field. He chuckled with delight before making a quick quip in the direction of the stone monster and running in that direction.

"Chat Noir! No, wait!" Marinette quickly yelled.

Was this boy seriously that clueless about their powers? He only had the one shot and he wasted it on a net. Marinette watched hopelessly as he ran up to the monster and tried to destroy it by placing his hand on the creature's foot. She noticed as his confident pose and facial expression turned to confusion as he tried a couple more times to use his power on the monster. 

"Uh oh. I guess I only get one shot with it?" he said to himself but Marinette could hear his vocalized realization before getting kicked back and skidding to a halt before her. 

"Good job. Now you only have five minutes until you transform back. Didn't you learn anything from your kwami?" she asked in a tone peppered by her frustration.

"What can I say? I guess I was really eager to get started," Chat said sheepishly.

"Then I guess it's up to me," Marinette said and immediately remembered the words Tikki had told her earlier. "Lucky Charm!" 

Now, Marinette figured that her lucky charm would produce something really cool. After all, it was a superpower so why wouldn't it be a cool object. She was honestly a bit excited to see what was produced, and that excitement faded to confusion when a red and black wetsuit fell into her hands. She and Chat looked to each other and began to try and figure out what to do with it. 

"Well, first of all where could the akuma thing be?" Chat asked and Marinette let her gaze fall upon the stone monster. She squinted and looked at each part of him, taking in every detail.

"His hand. He's obviously holding something in it. He hasn't opened it at all this entire time and there is no other possible object on his body," Marinette deduced and Chat nodded. 

"Then what's the plan?" Chat asked ready for whatever crazy plan Marinette concocted.

Marinette looked around the surrounding environment and made note of which fist was closed on the monster, Alya's figure in the distance, the faucet on the stadium's wall, and the hose they had happened to be standing by. She looked up to Chat and let a small smirk paint across her lips.

"As a matter of fact, this," she said and bent down to pick up the hose. She quickly connected the wetsuit and hose, tying the wetsuit so there were no holes for water to escape from. She looked up to Chat and quickly wrapped her yoyo's string around him. "Trust me," she said and he gave her a startled reaction. She spun around and swung him to the stone monster and heard him call her crazy as he flew into the monster's hand. She took a breath and challenged the monster to catch her to which he opened his other hand that had been closed the entire time and caught her while dropping what had previously occupied it. 

Chat looked over to her before mouthing, "What have you just gotten us into?" Marinette simply smirked and turned her head so she could look at Alya who was still on the sidelines recording the fight on her phone. 

"Alya, the tap!" she yelled and nodded in the direction of the faucet. Alya nodded and obliged and before they knew it, the wetsuit had blown up in size and Marinette was back on the ground and running to the object, stomping on and breaking it as quickly as she could. She watched as the purple butterfly emerged and flew off into the afternoon sky. 

She looked back at Chat who she shared a smirk with before seeing him mouth the words, "You're awesome." Smiling to herself the object turned back into a piece of crumpled up paper and the monster turned back into her classmate Ivan. As Ivan tried to figure out what had happened, Chat walked over to her and stood beside her. 

"Now that was pretty incredible, M. You did it," he said with a soft smile.

"I think we _both did it_," she said holding her hand up in a fist and seeing Chat raise his fist up as well. "Pound it?" 

"Pound it," Chat replied with a smile. 

Marinette and Chat were only able to give each other a smile for a moment before Chat's ring began to beep, alerting them that he was about to turn back. Marinette frowned, knowing that he had to go away already.

"You had better get going. Our identities should remain a secret," she said looking him in the eyes.

"Have you already forgotten I know your name?" Chat laughed and she blushed.

"Well, the rest of our identities," she retorted. 

He laughed and gave her a small bow. "Farewell then m'lady. Let's do this hero thing again soon," he said and ran off, launching himself out of the stadium with his baton. 

"Not to soon I hope," she said, smiling at the friendly silhouette fade into the distance. 

Marinette opened the piece of crumpled paper with curiosity, reading the taunt Kim had written down. Quickly putting the pieces together of why Ivan was upset, she walked over to comfort him. Her talk with Ivan was quickly halted by the sound of Alya who held her cell phone outwards like a camera, taking in the scene.

"That was remarkable, uncanny even! Are you going to protect Paris? How did you get your superpowers? Did you get stung by a radioactive ladybug? I have got so many questions to ask you Miss..." Alya trailed off not knowing what to call her.

Marinette stood up and walked for a few paces. She stopped and thought for a second before turning to face the camera. 

"Ladybug. Call me Ladybug," she said confidently before launching her yoyo and ultimately herself into the distance. 

She flew over the buildings of the city, staring in amazement at her new mode of transportation. She began to feel more confident each time she propelled herself forward. Landing gracefully onto her balcony, she opened the skylight leading to her room and gracefully landed on her bed releasing her transformation in the process. She walked down the stairs leading to the rest of her room and over to her computer, turning on the news in the process. The news showcased the footage Alya had captured of her declaring her name and she couldn't help but smile.

"Marinette! Dinner time!" she heard her mom call from the living room. 

She quickly ran to her door and raced down the stairs to join her mom and dad. They had the news playing on the family room television. Footage of the mayor was on the screen declaring that there would be a celebration held in honor of herself and Chat Noir. She happily ate her dinner with her parents, hearing their amazed and cheerful comments about Paris' new heroes. However, the exciting buzz soon came to a halt as she washed the dishes after dinner. 

Marinette watched as the broadcast began to show footage of random citizens turning into static clones of the stone monster they had just fought that day. The news anchor spoke calmly but urgently and she saw her parents cling onto one another after hearing the news. Startled, Marinette ran up to her room, closing her door and watched as Tikki simply looked back at her.

"Did you capture the akuma?" Tikki asked as she ate a cookie.

"But what does capturing the akuma have to do with anything?" Marinette asked perplexed.

"Akumas can multiply. If Ivan has those strong negative emotions again, he can become akumatized once more and control those stone beings as his army!" Tikki explained as calmly as she could. 

"This means this is all my fault. Ugh! I knew I wasn't the right person for the job! I'm only going to keep messing up," Marinette lamented.

"It's okay. Marinette this was your first time! You'll go out and fight him again and finish it all this time," Tikki said in an attempt to reassure her. 

"No, you don't get it Tikki. I told you earlier that I'm clumsy. I messed up. I'll only make a bigger problem! It'll be worse for everyone. Chat Noir would clearly do better without me," she said with almost a tone of heartbreak.

"But Chat Noir can't purify the akuma without you," Tikki told her.

"Well, if he can't do it without me... Just find another Ladybug," Marinette said. 

"Wait, no!" Tikki said as Marinette began to take off her earrings.

"I'm sorry," Marinette said when she looked up, Tikki was gone.

Marinette put the earrings back into the small box they had come in and put them into her drawer. She slumped to the floor and held her knees. She had mixed feelings. She knew that someone had trusted her with being a superhero, but she also felt that they had made a mistake. She knew Alya loved superheroes and figures that slipping it to her was her best option. Would it be noticeable? Perhaps, but she had to do what was best for her city. And with that, she got up and prepared herself for the next day of school, praying that the stone monster wouldn't come, but knowing that she had to hand over the earrings and be prepared for anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading the first chapter of Not So Secret! I was inspired by a sketch I saw on Tumblr proposing the idea of an AU where Marinette had revealed too much of her name when she first met Chat, and instead of the lovesquare we know and love, their relationship would progress slowly. I cannot find the original post I saw this proposed on, but if you know please let me know! I would love to give them proper credit! Thank you again ❤!  
-xoxo Alli


	2. Chapter 2

Adrien honestly could not believe that he actually had managed to escape the empty mansion he called home. With how overprotective his father could be, it was mind boggling. He finally reached the park across from the school when Plagg finally showed his tiny little face.

"Honestly, I don't understand why you're trying to go to school. Most kids want to get out of school," Plagg said. 

"Plagg, you don't get it. I am sick of being trapped at home by my dad. I want to break free, meet people, maybe make a friend for once," Adrien said. "Besides, what I don't understand is why you exclusively eat this disgusting cheese resulting in me _smelling_ like this disgusting cheese."

Plagg just smirked at Adrien who had taken out a piece of the stinky cheese and handed it over. "Well if you want to be a superhero, stinky cheese is the deal my friend." 

"Yeah, yeah," Adrien rolled his eyes at the floating cat. 

Adrien quickly ran as quickly as he could in the direction of the school. He mentally pepped himself up, telling himself it was just a little further and then he would be like everyone else. He reached the stairs and began to run up them, almost making it to the front entryway.

"Adrien!" he heard the dreaded voice of Nathalie, his father's assistant calling after him. "Don't do this. You know that your father will be _furious_." 

"Please just tell him you got here too late," he said and ran into the school without looking back. 

He slowed himself down once he had reached the courtyard full of students clumped together. He knew that Chloé attended this school and was scanning the crowd for at least the one familiar face. He finally found the platinum blonde standing smugly with a group of students. He walked a little closer before finding the courage to call out her name.

"Hey Chloé," he said and she spun around. 

"Adrikins! You came!" Chloé exclaimed and ran over to him, wrapping him in a large hug.

Before Adrien could even process what was happening, the entirety of the student body who had been out in the courtyard was swarming him. Each person wanted their own look at the famed Adrien Agreste. It was something he had come to secretly despise. He wanted room to breathe, to feel like a normal teenage boy. Yet incidents like this one reminded him that he wasn't "normal". He was the son of Gabriel Agreste, a world renowned fashion designer. 

He put on a happy face and smiled at everyone, slowly making his way up to his homeroom alongside Chloe, signing a couple of autographs on his way there. Even if he didn't want to upset her, he had been hoping for Chloe to loosen her grip on his arm the entire way up the stairs, but it didn't seem like that would happen anytime soon. 

"Well, this is it. This is going to be your seat Adrikins, right in front of me. I saved it for you, you know," Chloé giggled as they walked into the room. In passing, Adrien put a thankful hand on her shoulder and sat down in the seat she had gestured to.

He quickly looked over to the boy he'd be sitting beside. He took note of the baseball cap and headphones around the boy's neck. He held out a friendly hand to the boy and smiled. "Uh, hi. I'm Adrien."

The boy looked at him clearly not amused. "You're friends with Chloe, huh?" 

Confused and admittedly slightly hurt, Adrien let his hand fall slightly before looking behind him towards the girl he had known forever. She was currently taking a piece of chewed gum from her mouth and handing it to the redhead who he knew was her friend Sabrina. Sabrina placed the chewed gum on the seat and Adrien could not help but feel entirely grossed out. 

"Hey... What is that all about?" he asked and stood to face Chloé. 

"Well, obviously the brats who sat here yesterday gave me attitude. They need some attitude readjustment and I am demanding a bit of respect, that's all," she said snottily and confidently.

"You think that's really necessary?" he asked as he knelt down to poke at the gum, hoping to pick it off before the aforementioned students got to the classroom. 

"You have got so much to learn about school, Adrikins. Just watch the master," Chloé said as she sat down at the seat behind his. 

Adrien continued to poke at the gum on the seat. Before he knew it, someone was yelling at him.

"Hey! Just what do you think you're doing?" a girl with dark hair pulled back into twin ponytails asked and her eyes were clearly throwing daggers his way. 

Startled he began to stammer. "Uh, I.. uh," was all he could get out before Chloé and Sabrina began to laugh. 

"Oh now I get it. Good job you three. So hilarious," the girl said and Adrien felt horrible. 

"No you don't understand, I was just trying to take this _off_!" Adrien said quickly.

"Uh huh. Really?" the girl said glaring at him. He watched her poke the gum before placing a napkin from her bag on it. "You're friends with Chloé, right?" she spat in his direction and he felt that same pang of rejection he had felt earlier with the boy he sat by. 

"Why does everyone keep asking me that?" he mumbled to himself.

The girl simply stood, glared, and sat at her seat, refusing to face him. He let his shoulders sag as he went to take his seat once again. 

"Now do you see what I mean about respect?" Chloé asked and all he could do was groan. 

"Why didn't you just tell her it was Chloé?" the boy asked and Adrien gave him a sad smile.

"I've known her since I was a little kid. I know she's not perfect, but I can't just throw her under the bus. She's about the only friend I have," Adrien said, not meeting the other boy's eye. 

"I'm Nino and it's time for you to have some new friends," Nino said and held his hand out to Adrien. He took it and they shook hands, a small smile creeping onto Adrien's face. 

Before he knew it, his first day of public school had started. His instructor began to take attendance and he wasn't paying that much attention to what was going on. He heard his name and didn't know what to do.

"This is the part where you say 'present'," Nino whispered and Adrien went into action.

Standing and raising his arm straight into the air, Adrien cried out, "Present!" Granted it led to some giggles and Adrien felt a little embarrassed but as he settled back in his seat, Nino gave him a fist bump and encouraging smile. Attendance continued for two names before the stone monster from before had burst through the wall.

Screaming ensued and Adrien quickly ran off in the chaos. He ran down the stairs and to the lockers where he opened one to shield himself. Plagg flew out from his overshirt and Adrien let out a sigh. 

"My first day at a real school and I can't even make it past the role call," he sighed.

"Well a day off is what I'm talking about," Plagg smirked at him.

"Oh, no, no, no, no. We've got work to do. Plagg, transform me," Adrien said and before he knew it, he was Chat Noir. He quickly ran out of the school and confronted the stone monster hitting him with his baton. In response the stone monster only grew inside and Chat cringed. "Oops. My bad," he said sheepishly.

"Incompetent," he heard Chloé mutter as she sat there stuck in the monster's hand. 

The monster called for his minions and the other stone people Adrien had seen on the news after the first battle all gather to their location. He darted in and out of the monsters, terrified of what might happen if Ladybug didn't arrive soon. He looked around as he trailed behind the monsters walking down the street. A car was thrown and he looked in time to see it heading straight towards one of the girls from his class, the same one from the previous battle. He used his baton to protect her from being crushed, but she still became trapped nonetheless. However, before he could do anything, he was grabbed face-first by a stone giant. 

He could tell they were moving, one slow clump of the foot at a time. Praying by everything that mattered, he was just hoping for Ladybug to arrive. Shortly after his wishing, he felt his baton return to him through the gap in the stone giant's hand.

"Extend it!" he heard Ladybug call. He did as she said and was free of the stone giant's strong grip. He fell onto the ground, but didn't have the chance to get acquainted with the street before Ladybug's yoyo wrapped around him and whisked him off into the sky and kept him attached to a street light. He looked up to the sky to see Ladybug holding him in place.

"You know, M, you really turn my world upside down," he said with a cheeky wink. 

"Again with the jokes, huh?" she asked but roars from the stone giants tore their attention from each other. "Too bad you need to work on the timing. Come on," she said as she freed and pulled him up with her into the sky. She led him further and further away from the stone giants that had once been crowding them.

"Shouldn't we be taking care of them?" he asked her.

"No. The only way to save them is to go to the source," she said as they landed on the ground and faced the Eiffel Tower. It was a sight to take in, what with the mega huge stone monster on one of the most iconic monuments in the world. He watched as helicopters began to surround the tower and the giant.

He watched and felt sick to his stomach as the mayor began to plea for Chloé to be returned safely and all the monster did in return was throw the girl to the ground. Luckily, Ladybug was right on it and launched herself to catch Chloé and put her safely on the ground. Chat caught up with her and stood behind her as she tried to get the police to put down their weapons. 

"Move aside and let the professionals do their job. You've already failed once," the captain said and went back to face the monster.

Chat watched as Ladybug let the words sit on her shoulders. "You know he's right. If I had done my job correctly the first time, this wouldn't have happened. I knew it. I knew I wasn't the right person for this job." 

He looked down at her in surprise. She thought she wasn't the right person for the job? She was kidding right? She had covered her eyes quickly with her hands but all he did was lay a hand on her shoulder.

"No M. He's wrong. Without you, that girl would no longer be here. And without us, they won't make it. We'll prove it to them, just trust me on this one, okay?" he asked as he turned her to face him. 

Ladybug smiled and nodded in return. "Okay," she said and let herself relax under his touch. 

Behind them, Chat heard a strange and loud coughing sound come from the stone monster on the tower. He and Ladybug both turned to face him and watched in both horror and disgust as he seemingly threw up countless purplish black butterflies that all fluttered together to make the shape of a face in the sky. 

"People of Paris, listen carefully. I am Hawkmoth," the figure began to say.

Chat looked over to Ladybug as they both tried the name out. "Hawkmoth?"

"Ladybug. Chat Noir. Hand over the ladybug earrings and black cat ring to me now. You have already done enough damage to these innocent people."

A slow clap snapped Chat back to reality. Beside him Ladybug had gained a confidence he had seen once before. "Nice try Hawkmoth, but we already know who the true villain in this is. Let's not reverse the roles. Without _you_, none of these innocent victims would have been transformed. Hawkmoth, no matter how long it takes, we will find you and _you_ will hand us _your_ miraculous!" she yelled and launched herself up at the swarm of butterflies, catching each and every one in her yoyo. She landed gracefully on the edge of the tower and faced the crowd at the base.

"Let me make this clear. No matter who wants to harm you, Ladybug and Chat Noir will do everything within our power to keep you safe." She raised her yoyo to the sky and released all of the purified butterflies, now glowing white in color, into the Parisian sky. 

Chat stood in amazement. This girl, the same one that had claimed she wasn't the right person for the job, the one who had said she was madly clumsy, the one who had managed to accidentally spill her first name to him their first day on the job was standing there triumphantly. "M, you are one of a kind. I love it," he said and smiled at her. He used his baton to launch himself to her level and they together launched themselves to where the big bad was.

The monster called to his minions as he climbed the Tower as if he was King Kong on the Empire State Building. The tower shook as the stone beings climbed the sides and the two heroes stared in horror as they realized they were stuck.

"Well, looks like we're surrounded and we can't just hit our way out. What are we going to do?" Chat asked Ladybug. 

"Well, we already know where the akuma is."

"Yeah, in the fist he's got Mylène in. So?" 

"We know that he's in love with her," he heard Ladybug say and watched as she came to a conclusion. "That's it! We don't separate them, we bring them together!" He watched as she took her yoyo and launched herself out onto the outside of the tower.

"Well, I'm not following, but I'll trust your judgement," Chat mumbled to himself. He launched himself out and followed Ladybug up to the top of the tower, watching as she perched herself onto the tip top and landing himself on a sturdy platform. Ducking out of the way of the stone minions, Chat extended his baton and used it as a shield. "So exactly how are we going to get them closer?"

"With our powers," she responded giving him a look that he swore spoke the word "duh". "Lucky Charm!" 

Chat watched as Ladybug caught a parachute pack and looked at it dumbfounded. He didn't have long though because before he knew it, he had been launched across to the other side of the platform, yelling his way over before using the fixtures and poles to swing himself to higher ground. Crouching down, he grabbed his baton and looked up to his masked partner. 

"So are you sure you know what you're doing?" he asked in a concerned tone.

"I guess we'll find out," she said as she grabbed her yoyo and launched it around the monsters shoulder pulling the string towards her. "His hand! Get ready!" she yelled as she pulled the monster and Mylène close together in a kiss.

Startled, the monster let go of Mylène and she began to fall alongside the akumatized object. Luckily for Mylène, she had grabbed onto one of the stone monster's fingers. Focusing his attention onto the akumatized object, Chat launched himself off of the tower and continued to keep himself steady by sticking his baton in a pole of the tower before quickly launching himself off again. As quickly as he reached the stone in his descent it was gone as he swung his baton and hit the stone up to Ladybug who caught it and destroyed it. He quickly used his baton to steady himself along the tower and looked to Ladybug in time to see her make a split second decision.

"Chat take care of Ivan," she said as she jumped off the tower and rocketed towards Mylène.

Chat quickly produced his power and placed his hand on one of the poles of the tower. Using the pole he managed to slide to the end catching Ivan as Ladybug caught Mylène. He glanced over to see her launch her yoyo and capture the akuma before pulling the cord on the parachute and floating down. He wasn't sure what it was, but he had a warm feeling in his stomach as he watched her land gracefully on the ground. He got himself and Ivan onto the ground safely as Ladybug released the purified butterfly and all the damage that had been done was undone. Each monument, each building, each victim was restored in health and returned to it's former glory. 

"Are you guys seeing what I'm seeing?" Chat asked as he helped Ivan over to where Ladybug and Mylène stood.

"Yes! It's so beautiful and amazing! It's... it's miraculous," Ladybug said and Chat smiled. 

As the police gathered their barriers and cleaned up the scene surrounding the Eiffel Tower, Chat and Ladybug stood off to the side watching as Ivan and Mylène hugged. 

"Those two are just made for one another," Ladybug said wistfully.

"Kind of like us right? A dynamic super duo?" Chat joked as he leaned forward towards her. 

His ring began to beep and Ladybug took his hand looking at the flashing ring.

"Yeah, well for know we gotta split. See you later Chat Noir!" she said and launched herself into the distance. 

"I can't wait, M," Chat mumbled to himself and launched himself into the distance.

After he had arrived at home, he knew his father was not going to be happy. Nathalie and the Gorilla had ushered him into the backseat of the car silently. Nathalie took the seat beside Adrien in the back of the car as his father started a video call on the screen attached to the seat in front of him.

"Adrien, you deliberately disobeyed me. Now, take a good look at that school," his father said and he did as he was told. "You will never, I repeat _never_ go back there again."

"But, Father!" Adrien began to plea.

"_Without_ your bodyguard. He will drop you off and pick you up every day. Nathalie has offered to arrange your new schedule."

Adrien felt the smile on his face grow as he looked over to his father's assistant. "Thank you Nathalie! And thank you Father!" he exclaimed as he quickly opened the door and ran into the school, excited to start having his first true taste of freedom. Adrien bolted for the stairs that led to his homeroom and only slowed himself to make himself look composed as he entered the room. 

He smiled at Nino who gave him a wave and just behind Nino he noticed the two girls from before instead of Chloé and Sabrina. He tried to give the girl who he had had a misunderstanding with a friendly wave, yet she was having nothing to do with it. She gave a huff and turned so she didn't have to face him. Frowning, he sat himself down and stared at the desk in front of him.

"You wanted to make friends right? Why don't you just talk to Marinette about the gum incident?" Nino asked him.

_Marinette_? He knew one girl with that name already, and it certainly wasn't a common name. It couldn't be the same girl, could it?

"What would I even say to her?" Adrien asked Nino.

"Just be yourself," Nino shrugged and Adrien felt the confidence build up.

He let the classes go by, his anticipation building little by little as he waited for the right moment to talk to Marinette. Eventually, classes ended as a rainstorm began. He walked to the entryway of the school and was pleasantly surprised to see Marinette there. She stood to the side, trying to keep herself shielded from the rain. Adrien walked up and gave a small wave before getting the same huff and look from earlier.

"Hey. I just wanted to let you know that I really was just trying to get the gum off of your seat, I swear," he began as he opened his umbrella and used it to shield himself from the droplets. "I have never been to school before. I've never had any experience with friends. It's all new to me." He looked up to her as she stared back in amazement. "Here," he said as he handed over his umbrella to her, letting the droplets fall onto him. "Let this be a truce?"

Marinette took the umbrella as she continued to study his face. She looked skeptical, but she looked like she was beginning to accept what he was saying. "A truce?" she asked.

"Yeah, I figure if I want to make friends, I should also tell the truth," he said.

"What truth?" she asked.

"Well the gum for one, but also that, well. Marinette I know you're Ladybug," he said and she blushed a furious red.

"What? No I'm not," she sputtered and he smiled. _Bingo_. It was her.

"No it's okay. It's me, Chat. Your secret is safe," he smiled.

"Chat?!" she whispered and in her startled state she accidentally pressed the button that closed the umbrella. 

Adrien couldn't help but burst into laughter. "You are madly clumsy now, aren't you?" he teased.

Lifting the umbrella, he watched as she began to find the predicament funny as well. "That I am. But oh my gosh. I seriously blew it. So much for secret identities! I blew it immediately!"

"Well, we would have figured it out eventually, right? Being classmates and crime fighting partners," Adrien said and gave her a smile.

"I guess that's true," she said and smiled up at him.

"So, friends?" he asked and held out his now soaking wet hand.

Marinette took his hand in hers and they shook hands. "Friends."

Smiling down at his new friend, Adrien found a new confidence in himself. This clumsy girl who had revealed her name and therefore unintentionally revealed her secret identity, was standing here, ready to start a fresh relationship. No lies, no misunderstandings, just pure friendship. He could not have been more excited.

"I'll see you tomorrow then," he said and began to walk down the steps of the school and to the car.

"See you tomorrow!" he heard her call after him.

Smiling to himself as the car began to drive off, he let all of the emotions flood over him. From the first time he met her to this most current interaction. He knew there was something about her that he was going to love, and he couldn't wait to discover it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading the second chapter of Not So Secret! Like I said previously I was inspired by a sketch I saw on Tumblr, but I am not sure who to give the proper credit to! If you know, let me know! Thank you ❤!  
-xoxo Alli


	3. Chapter 3

Three weeks had passed by in the blink of an eye. There hadn't been any akuma attacks, much to Adrien and Marinette's relief. However if they had been completely honest, it also stressed them out to know it could happen at any moment. During the short period of an akuma drought, Adrien and Marinette had made it their mission to form a solid friendship. That being said, when Marinette arrived at school one morning and overheard other students talking about Adrien's birthday being the next day, she felt a pang of guilt hit her. 

She walked into their homeroom and looked to see if the seat in front of hers was occupied by her favorite blond. With his head bent down looking through his phone, Marinette grinned at the boy. She settled herself into her seat and sat her backpack beside her, carefully taking out her supplies for class. She leaned forward over her desk, careful not to send anything flying, and nudged Adrien's shoulder.

"Hey," Adrien said with a warm smile as he turned around to face her.

"Hey," Marinette began with a smile of her own. "Is your birthday actually tomorrow?" she asked and felt like a bad friend all the while.

"Yeah," Adrien said sheepishly. "I honestly am a little sick of hearing all the other students talk about it."

"How come?" Marinette asked and by this time she had seen Nino's interest peak. 

"Well, it's not like I'm going to have a party or anything. Besides, it's my first birthday without my mom here, and that's not exactly my favorite thing to think about," Adrien replied and he looked away as he talked about his mom.

Marinette had no clue of what to say to him. Sure it was one thing to not have a party with his friends, it was an entirely different thing to have to face his first birthday without his mother. She couldn't fathom how he must have been feeling in that moment. Her mom was one of the most important people to her. The only thing she could think of doing was laying her hand on his shoulder and giving him a warm smile.

"Sorry," Adrien said as he looked between Nino and Marinette. "I'm still trying to figure out this whole friends and school thing. I probably shouldn't have brought her up, should I?" 

"No, when you feel like talking about her, talk about her. I'm all ears," Marinette smiled and Adrien returned the soft grin.

"Good morning class," Mlle. Bustier said in her cheerful tone.

"We'll talk later," Marinette whispered and Adrien nodded before they both settled themselves to face the front.

"You and Adrien seem to be awfully friendly since the whole gum incident," Alya whispered to her. 

"It was a misunderstanding. He's actually a really good guy," Marinette whispered back, trying to be careful and not let Adrien overhear the conversation.

Alya gave her a simple smirk, facing herself back towards the front of the classroom as attendance was taken. Marinette could only shake her head at Alya, deciding to find some sort of way to cheer Adrien up, even if it was only by a little. On a small piece of paper, Marinette began to sketch little items. First it was mittens, the next minute it was a hat. She settled on a sketch of a scarf.

Before she knew it, she had doodled an entire page of scarfs, each one different from the last. She had gotten into the details of each stitch, making notes of what material the scarf would be as well as the dimensions . Her focus had become so entranced by the sketch and notes that she hadn't realized it was lunch time until Alya's voice snapped her back to the reality of school. 

"You heading to the cafeteria?" Alya asked as she stood up.

"Oh, uh, yeah," Marinette said scooping up the scarf sketches and placing them neatly in her bag. She looked in front of her and saw Nino and Adrien standing and talking.

"Adrien, are you coming with us?" Marinette asked and he gave a sad smile.

"I wish I could, but Father has me scheduled for lunch at home. I'll see you when I get back though," he said and Nino looked upset.

"Yeah, we'll see you then," Nino said and began to head off to the cafeteria. 

With a small wave, Adrien escorted himself out of the homeroom and Marinette watched as his blond mop of hair disappeared as he walked down the stairs to the courtyard. She and Alya made their own way to the cafeteria, catching up with Nino in the line for food. 

"You know, it's just not fair. You know what he told me that first day?" Nino asked and the girls shook their heads. "He said that the only friend he had ever had was Chloé. Chloé! This kid is finally making more friends and yet he's still being sheltered during the times he could be sharing with his new friends. It's just not fair at all."

"Well, what would you suggest we do?" Alya asked.

"I don't know. Tomorrow's his birthday and it'll be the same as every other day," Nino said and he almost sounded disappointed for the model they were able to call their friend.

Marinette frowned at the fact that Nino was right. It just wasn't fair. Adrien was going to turn fourteen and he still wasn't able to act like a normal teenage boy. Granted she knew he wasn't necessarily a _normal_ teenage boy considering he was actually a superhero and model. All three students picked up their trays after receiving lunches and walked over to an empty table.

"Here's the thing Nino," Alya began. "Adrien is a super famous teen model. He has an overbearing and overprotective helicopter father. He is only now just starting to create new friends." Alya counted each point on her fingers while looking over to the disappointed boy.

"Well yeah, but with us being his new friends, maybe we can help him gain more freedoms," Nino said.

Marinette frowned. She remembered having a brief conversation with Adrien a few days ago where he had said his father was very firm on his decisions. He had admitted to her that it took a lot of trying, hoping and practically pleading with his father for him to even be here at a public school.

"It's extremely unlikely," Marinette said and saw Nino's face drop a little. "But, it's not like we can't help him have a good day here. All of us in the class like and care about him, so why not try and help him to have a good school day?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Nino said finally letting a smile form on his face. "Making sure he has a good school day is the least that we can do."

Marinette tried to turn the conversation into a more lighthearted and jovial talk, but she could tell Nino's heart just wasn't in it. Eventually the lunch period came to an end. Marinette walked with Nino and Alya back up to their homeroom where they found Adrien sitting at his desk mulling over a schedule. He looked up briefly and smiled at his new friends.

"Hey guys," he said and let his gaze fall back onto the schedule.

"So what's on the agenda?" Marinette teased and leaned over his shoulder.

"Eh, a little fencing, a blocked amount of time for me to practice my piano, and to top the evening off, an early evening photo shoot," Adrien said and shot Marinette a cheeky grin.

"Fancy," she responded with a giggle.

"Not really," Adrien said and sighed. "They're honestly pretty boring. It's mostly, 'Ah yes, strike that pose. You are fierce. You are a warrior. Look mad, look sad, look fierce.'"

"In that exact order each time?" Marinette asked.

"Sometimes they switch things up by saying I'm carefree. It's pretty intense," Adrien said and shot her a grin that reminded her of his grin the day they met as Ladybug and Chat Noir.

"I'm sure," she grinned.

"Well, anyways, I think I may ask my dad about possibly having a birthday party after school tomorrow," Adrien said and Marinette was surprised.

"I thought you said he never budged."

"Well, yeah, but! I think if I talk to Nathalie, maybe she could help me convince him that if we had a party at the mansion, then maybe, just maybe he would say yes."

Marinette had to give the boy credit. Despite telling her that his father was not the warmest dad around and it seemed like he wasn't getting a "Father of the Year" award anytime soon, Adrien had hope. She wasn't really sure that many other kids would have the sort of strength that he had. However, she had that feeling in the pit of her stomach, the kind that felt like a heavy rock. She had the hunch that his father was going to deny Adrien's request anyways, so she came up with a quick little idea.

"Adrien, what is your favorite flavor of macaroon?"

"Passion fruit. Why?"

"No reason," Marinette said with a sly smile.

Before she could even begin to continue her conversation with Adrien, class was getting ready to start again. She walked up to her seat and sat down knowing that she was about to have a long night ahead of her. That baby blue scarf was going to be sewn and a sleeve of passion fruit macaroons was going to be baked. 

Adrien woke up at a relatively normal time the next morning. He got himself out of bed, got himself cleaned up, dressed, and ready for school. As he stood at his sink brushing his teeth, Plagg flew into his bathroom with a chunk of cheese in his hands.

"Happy Birthday!" Plagg said cheerfully.

"Oh God Plagg! Get that disgusting cheese out of my face," Adrien said with a cringe.

"More for me then," Plagg said before devouring the piece of cheese. 

Adrien couldn't help but smile at the floating cat. It may have not been the best one, but it was a gesture. He finished brushing his teeth and began to make his way downstairs, grabbing his school bag on the way out of his room. He looked around at the empty mansion foyer, feeling lonely in the large and silent space.

Had she been here, his mother would have woken him up with a cheery smile singing "Happy Birthday". Had someone else, anyone else, been there with him, he would have put on his "perfect world" smile and tried to hide how he was feeling. However, being alone made it easier to let his heartache show. He knew it wasn't going to be a fun morning, but he had not necessarily counted on the heavy feeling his mother's absence caused him to feel.

He walked into the large dining room, scoffing to himself. His father was no where to be seen but a tray of food was. He walked over to the seat with the food and sat himself down. He tried to get at least a portion of his breakfast down, yet it seemed that his stomach wasn't his friend. Sighing to himself, he sat down the mug he had tried to take a drink from.

"Adrien, here is your schedule for the day," Nathalie said as she walked into the silent dining room.

"Thanks," he said almost robotically. As Nathalie turned to leave, Adrien remembered the question he had gotten Nathalie to ask his father the previous evening. "Hey Nathalie? What did my father say about the party?" he asked letting a sliver of hope shine.

"H-he thought it wasn't a good idea," Nathalie said and Adrien turned his attention to the schedule in front of him. 

"Of course," Adrien mumbled to himself.

"Happy Birthday," Nathalie said before she fully exited the room.

Adrien took a deep breath and put the schedule away. The only thing he could seem thankful for was that he had already expected the answer to be no. Grabbing, his school bag from the ground, he stood up and walked back out into the foyer. He looked back one last time in hopes of seeing his father, but he was nowhere to be seen. He sighed and walked out the front door and down to where his bodyguard stood beside the car. Silently, the car door was opened and closed behind him once he was inside.

Upon his arrival at the school, Adrien was only able to walk a few steps before he was swarmed by several other students wishing him a happy birthday. He smiled and thanked them, slowly moving the swarm towards the school, seemingly inch-by-inch. The moment they hit the courtyard the swarm of students quickly dispersed, each student moving towards their group of friends. 

Adrien made his way up to his homeroom, hoping to see Marinette and Nino when he entered the room. Instead he was almost instantly wrapped in one of Chloé's overbearing hugs.

"Good morning Adrikins!" she squealed.

"Good morning Chloé," he managed to gasp out before getting himself out of her grip. 

He got himself sat down and watched as Chloé walked back to her seat, mumbling something to Sabrina who in turn grabbed a nail file from her bag and handed it over to Chloé. He turned his attention back onto his desk as he took his supplies for the day out and placed them on the wooden surface. 

Two friendly faces were the next to enter the classroom. Chatting quietly to one another, Alya and Nino walked up to the front desk.

"Happy Birthday," Nino whispered as he slid in beside Adrien.

"Thank you," Adrien said and smiled at his friend.

"Have you guys seen Marinette?" Alya asked as she walked past the boys.

"No," Nino replied and Adrien simply shook his head.

The sound of pounding feet alerted their attention to the front door of the classroom. All three of the teenagers looked to each other as Marinette entered the classroom with a frantic expression painted on her face. She quickly calmed herself, walking past the boys and setting a rectangular box in front of Adrien.

"Happy Birthday," she leaned over and whispered to Adrien before quickly straightening herself and settling into her own seat.

Adrien gave her a look before focusing back on the box she had placed on his desk. Opening it, he found it to be a sleeve of macaroons. He felt the smile grow on his face and he spun around to face her.

"Macaroons?" he asked in amazement.

"Passion fruit to be exact," Marinette smiled.

So that's why she had asked what his favorite type of macaroon was. She made him a sleeve of passion fruit macaroons for his birthday. He couldn't help but have a warm feeling in his stomach, similar to the feeling he had had when she stood up to Hawkmoth and saved Ivan the second time.

"Thank you," Adrien said in amazement.

He quickly closed the box and set inside of his bag, promising himself that he would have self restraint and not eat them all at once. Mlle. Bustier soon entered the room and began taking the morning attendance before beginning the morning's lesson. 

Adrien tried to keep himself focused as the morning went on. While he had a new group of wonderful friends, he still felt that heavy feeling of loneliness. It was intense enough that he felt like he may burst, but he was still hesitant. He didn't just want to explode with emotions to these other kids who hadn't known him for that long. And yet, he remembered Marinette's kind words the previous afternoon.

_When you feel like talking about her, talk about her. I'm all ears._

He found himself lost in thought to the point that he hadn't even realized it was time to walk down to the front of the school to meet his bodyguard. Nino nudged him, getting his attention, and they walked together with the girls down the stairs and into the courtyard.

"So, did you ask your dad about having a party?" Marinette asked.

"Yeah, I did. He said no," he responded.

"Hold up, you're dad really said no? You'd think he'd remember what it was like being young," Nino said with a shocked expression.

"Well, part of me thinks he was a downer back then too," Adrien said.

"But it's your birthday!" Nino said stopping Adrien in his tracks.

"But it's my dad. I can't just do whatever I want," he said with a glum expression.

Marinette and Alya stood there, both of them staying silent and they both had a very uncomfortable expression painted on their faces. Adrien sighed when he took notice and looked at all three of the other students.

"Seriously guys, I'm fine. I just thought it was worth a shot," he said and noticed that Nino still had an upset look on his face.

"Let me talk to him," Nino said. "You're my best bud, and maybe if he sees one of us, someone that genuinely wants to party with you he'd say yes." 

"Nino, you would only be wasting your time," Adrien said.

"It's not fair Adrien," Nino argued.

Adrien couldn't even bring himself to say anything. He knew it wasn't fair. He liked spending time with his friends, but so long as his dad was in control, that was not going to happen. As he stood with his friends outside of the school, the car taking him to a brief photo shoot for a couple of his father's new designs arrived.

"I've gotta go. I'll see you guys after lunch," he said and got into the car.

He appreciated the sentiment, and he hoped Nino knew that. He sat in the backseat and fiddled with his phone, praying that it would provide some sort of distraction before he got to the shoot. The Gorilla sat in the driver's seat, as quiet as ever, and a talk radio station was the only thing filling the car with sound.

Once they had arrived, the photo shoot went by in an almost slow and dull manner. It was nothing more than going through the motions, putting on a face all the while. He thanked the photographer on his way out and let his face fall into it's melancholy state only when he was safely behind the closed door of the car. The drive to the mansion went by a little too quickly if he was being honest, and before he knew it, he was home.

He walked inside and straight to the dining room where his lunch was waiting. He was alone, not that that surprised him by any means. He sat down and began to quietly eat his lunch, making sure to eat everything. He finished off his glass of water that had been provided and sighed. 

"That was birthday lunch to remember," he mumbled sarcastically.

He walked to the front foyer, hoping to see his father at least once before he left for his afternoon classes. His father was nowhere to be seen or heard. He sighed, feeling just as disappointed as ever. He walked over to the front door and gingerly opened it.

"Happy Birthday!" his classmates screamed as he walked outside. 

Startled he looked up and around. Everyone from his homeroom class was in the front courtyard of the mansion. There was Ivan, Kim, Max, Alix, Sabrina, Chloé, and even Alya. He searched the crowd for the faces of Marinette and Nino, but he didn't find either one.

"Well you know what they say: 'When the cat's away the mice will play!' Welcome to your party my dude," a voice said and Adrien's eyes shot up to him.

Clad in an almost plastic like outfit, an akuma villain stood on a purple bubble. It took Adrien a moment, but he quickly realized who it was.

"Nino?" he asked.

"Nah, the name's Bubbler. Now let's get this party started!" 

Adrien found himself feeling conflicted. He needed to get transformed and ready to take down this villain, and yet no one had ever done something like throw him a party before. He ran into the house and to his room, pacing around trying to figure out what he should do.

"You know, you finally have the chance to party with kids your age," Plagg said as he flew from out of Adrien's shirt.

"I know. But it's Nino. He's akumatized," Adrien said glumly.

"Adrien, use it as an excuse to scope out the scene. Have fun for a little bit and then transform," Plagg said. 

"But when Marinette arrives, I don't want her getting any of the wrong impressions," Adrien said.

Plagg simply shrugged and Adrien made the split second decision that he would go out to the party until Marinette arrived. From there he would sneak off, transform, and help her take down the Bubbler. He put his school bag on his computer chair and walked back out the front foyer door. He walked down the stairs and into the crowd of other students.

"Adrikins!" he heard Chloé say in a sing-song voice.

"Hey," he said simply. He kept scoping out the scene to see if he could find Marinette, but she was still nowhere to be found.

Before he could even realize what was happening, a slow song was playing and Chloé was grabbing his wrist. She pulled him close and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Your first party and your first slow dance. How lucky are you?" Chloé said.

"Yeah," Adrien said in a flat tone.

Adrien had put up with Chloé's attachment throughout the years. He had never been blind to the fact that she had some sort of a crush on him. However this, slow dancing, was the most strenuous of her antics. He had grown up knowing that slow dancing was supposed to be a romantic thing, and he had platonic feelings for her. So when a red yoyo appeared in the corner of his eye and caused a different record to land on the DJ booth, he was extremely grateful.

"Sorry Chloé," Adrien said with a simple smile, hiding his excitement over not having to deal with that.

Out in the distance, at the very entrance of the estate, he saw Marinette walk in. She scanned the crowd for a moment before they made eye contact. He gave her a smile and she waved. Giving a simple nod to the snack table, Marinette gave him a thumbs up and walked over to the assortment of goods. Adrien quickly excused himself from Chloé and walked over, grabbing a little cup of punch as he did.

"Thank you," he said softly to Marinette.

"I had a feeling you needed the help," she smirked and grabbed a cookie before slipping it into the little pouch on her hip.

"You ready to try and get Nino back?" he asked.

"Let my kwami regain her energy first," Marinette whispered giving him a look that clearly said 'be patient'. "Besides, I just got scolded for using my lucky charm to get you out of that bind."

"Well I am flattered you got scolded on my behalf," Adrien said with a little grin on his face. The grin soon disappeared as he looked out at his classmates. "Is this what a party is supposed to feel like? I mean, I thought they were supposed to be a lot of fun, but this," he said as he gestured with his hand. "This is not."

"It's a party being thrown by an akuma who, by the way, sent all the adults into the air using his bubbles." 

"He what?" Adrien asked and only got a nod in response. "We need to transform then. I'll run inside, you find a little nook okay?"

"Adrien, don't worry, we'll get him back," Marinette said.

"But this is the second akuma we have ever battled. It feels pretty high stakes," he said.

"Just trust me, okay?" Marinette said and placed her hand on his arm.

Taking a breath, he nodded his head. Marinette smiled up at him before sneaking out of the front court while he ran inside and back up to his room. He quickly transformed and arrived outside just in time to see a red bubble hurtling towards Ladybug. He ran into action and used his baton to send the bubble flying the other way. 

"I arrived just in time?" he asked.

"Eh, I had it," Ladybug smirked. "But thank you."

Suddenly, Bubbler began to throw an endless amount of red bubbles, both large and small, at the two heroes. Ladybug used her yoyo and Chat used his baton to try and deflect the bubbles. For a moment, it seemed that they had successfully deflected them all, that was until Bubbler snapped his finger and all of the bubbles fell back down, covering both of them. Before they could fully process what was going on, they were encased in a large green bubble.

Ladybug grunted as she began to try and pierce the bubble by elbowing it and Chat used his baton to try and do the same. Neither one of them had any luck. Bubbler simply stood across from them with a smug smirk on his face.

"Hand over your miraculous," he said.

"Ugh, dream on," Ladybug said as she glared at him. 

"Just as bad as adults I see. Might as well have you join them," he laughed and ran towards the bubble using his oversized wand as a bat to hit them into the sky.

Both of them screamed as they went higher and higher. As the bubble slowed down they looked towards each other and checked on the other.

"Are you okay?" Chat asked Ladybug.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Are you?" she asked him.

He nodded and allowed himself to look down towards the ground. Looking quickly up to Ladybug, he saw her point to her hand. Taking that as his queue, he produced his power and quickly destroyed the bubble. As both of them began to plummet to the ground, Ladybug looked around for a plan of how to stop themselves safely.

"Chat, your baton. Throw it into the side of the tower," she said and he did so. "Now hang on!" 

Ladybug quickly grabbed his arm and pulled him closer to her before she swung her yoyo out and let it wrap itself around the baton. She yanked on the string pulling them towards the tower. They quickly used the momentum of the fall to act as a swing as they got themselves to ground, both of them skidding to a halt. Ladybug yanked on her yoyo once more and retrieved Chat's baton in the process. Tossing it to him they shared a look.

"Well, the akuma has to be in that wand. Nino always carries a container of bubble solution," Ladybug said and Chat nodded in agreement.

"Let's hurry," Chat said as his ring began to beep.

Once they arrived back at the mansion, they watched as Bubbler sent all of the students up in bubbles. When Bubbler had noticed their arrival, he quickly taunted them with thought of the students before leading them on a chase that led them straight back to the Eiffel tower.

"Could have saved time by luring him here," Chat mumbled and Ladybug sent him a quick glare.

They quickly made their way up the tower and landed on the observation deck. Bubbler kept sending bubbles in their direction, one of the bubbles even exploding when they jumped away. A beeping sound alerted Chat to his ring where he realized they barely had any time left.

"Lucky Charm!" Ladybug yelled as she noticed his frantic expression. 

A wrench fell into Ladybug's arms and she shared a glance with Chat. He quickly looked back to Bubbler who he kept distracted by hopping throughout the different beams of the tower's structure. Bubbler missed each time and Chat paused for a moment.

"Your aim could use some work, you know," he taunted.

As he began to run from another round of Bubbler's attacks, Ladybug used the wrench sending an air duct flying around. He heard her request to cover her and he sprung into action by jumping onto the duct using it to spray gusts of air around. Bubbler began to raise his wand again, but he was too slow. Ladybug used her yoyo to grab and break the wand, releasing the akuma. She quickly purified the akuma and used the restoration power of the lucky charm.

Chat and Ladybug quickly fist pumped before Chat ran off while Ladybug made sure Nino got back to the school safely. He transformed back once he was hidden in an alley and he walked back inside the walls of the estate. Walking into the mansion, he began to think.

Adrien realized that he had a confidant of sorts in Marinette. She had his back in battle, didn't treat him differently just because he was a celebrity, and was kind. She had even made him passion fruit macaroons for his birthday. So he took out his phone and began to send her a quick text message before grabbing his bag and heading back out to the car.

"Adrien, wait," he heard Nathalie say before he turned around to face her.

"This is from your father," she said as she handed him a blue gift box tied with pink ribbon.

His father had given him a gift? He quickly opened it to find a beautiful baby blue scarf inside. He put it on and looked to Nathalie.

"Tell him I say thank you," he said and continued to walk to the car, ready to finally get started on his afternoon classes.

His car ride was one of excitement, ready to show off the scarf his father had given him. This scarf, it was proof that his dad did pay attention and did in fact care even if he didn't always show it. It was a step forward. As he exited the car, he looked to Nino.

"Cool scarf," Nino said with a smile.

"Thanks! My dad gave it to me. It's a nice gesture considering the past three years all he gave me was a lousy pen," he said.

He smiled when he noticed Marinette and Alya. Walking over to Marinette he placed a hand on her shoulder. 

"Thank you," he said.

"For what?" she asked.

"Earlier," he responded and all she did was smile up at him.

"You're welcome. By the way, I got your text. Are you sure?" she asked.

He was. He was finally ready to open up to someone about his mom. He looked at her smiling and nodded his head.

"I'll swing by tonight then," she whispered and she did.

That evening Ladybug made a surprise visit to the Agreste mansion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading the third chapter of Not So Secret!  
\- xoxo Alli


	4. Chapter 4

Marinette had lost plenty of sleep the previous night. She had stayed over at Adrien's home talking to him until he fell asleep. She yawned as she walked up the stairs and into her homeroom class. She said hi to Nino and waved to her other classmates. As she walked beside Adrien's seat, he looked up to her smiling and mouthing the words "thank you". She smiled back and took her seat behind him.

"Girl, did you even get any sleep last night?" Alya asked her as she put her school supplies on the wooden desk in front of her.

"Of course," she lied. In all reality when she got home she ended up staying awake for a while longer thinking about what Adrien had told her and frantically remembered to complete her homework. Needless to say, she didn't get any sleep the previous night.

"You look rough," Alya said honestly.

"Thanks," Marinette said and rolled her eyes playfully at her friend.

As class began, Marinette found herself not being able to focus on anything she was learning. The previous evening began to play over and over in her head. 

_ She had arrived at Adrien's window in the early night, just after sundown. He had smiled when he opened the window to let her in. She had walked over to his couch and casually sat as Adrien closed the window carefully._

__

__

_"Thanks for coming," Adrien said as he walked over to where she sat._

_"What are friends for?" she asked with a smile._

_"Are you sure you're really willing to listen to all of my rambling?" Adrien asked and she could read the concern on his face._

_"Adrien, we're friends. You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to. But I am always, and I mean always here to listen to whatever you need to say," she said looking at him._

_He simply smiled at her before letting his smile shift into a smirk. He shook his head and closed his eyes letting out a simple laugh. Puzzled, she looked over to him as if trying to coax him into telling her what was so funny._

_"Sorry, it's just that I don't know how to react to the fact that I technically have a superhero in my room right now. It's kind of odd," Adrien laughed and looked to her._

_"Well, you kind of always do, don't you?" Marinette shot back._

_"Well, yeah, but you realize that you're still a superhero too, right?"_

_With that question, Marinette looked down at her attire and realized she was currently in her Ladybug suit. She looked up to Adrien quickly and raised an eyebrow._

_"Does me being transformed bother you?" she smiled._

_"Well, no. I just wondered if you were uncomfortable or something," he shrugged._

_Marinette quickly rolled her eyes and released her transformation before looking back in his direction. _

_"Is this better?" she asked and he laughed._

_ "Sure," he replied which she only responded to by letting out an exasperated sigh._

_ "Whatever," she said smiling. "But, Adrien?"_

_ "Hm?"_

_ "Don't feel like you have to tell me anything. If all you need is a shoulder to lean on, that's okay too," she told him after picking up on his stalling. She leaned in his direction a bit._

_ "No, I want to talk about her. I want at least one person to know about how great she was, you know?" he asked and it made Marinette smile._

_ "I get what you mean. I'm close to my mom and she's pretty fantastic," she said and Adrien smiled._

_ "Where do I even start though? My mom was just so warm and kind. She was caring and loving. She honestly made up the balance of what my father isn't. He's more strict and business but she was always a bit freer and was more so driven by freedom and fun," Adrien started. He continued talking about his mom, all of the little things she would do each day to make it easier for him to juggle his studies and extra activities. Before she knew it, half an hour had passed._

_ "It's just hard now. She's gone and there's absolutely nothing that I can do, but I blame myself like I could have done something. It's like this major part of my life has been removed and there's a large empty hole there. It's something no one can fill or ever come close to. She's just gone a-and I don't know how to deal with it!" Adrien let spill out. "It's a roller coaster. I go between feeling like I'm beginning to accept that she's gone, but then I go right back to square one. I'm angry, I'm sad, and I blame myself."_

_ Somewhere between the confessions of how he was feeling emotionally, Marinette slid closer to him on the couch and put her hand on his. He looked up to her, eyes glossy with the sheer shine of tears. He smiled at her and turned his hand so their hands were clasped together._

_ "Adrien, I'm not going to lie. I don't know what exactly you're going through. I can't make it all just disappear or change the past. But I can tell you that your stories show that you had such a close relationship that you don't have to have regrets of how you treated her. That's not something every person gets to say, and that is important. Is that her on your computer screen?" Marinette asked pointing to his computers on the other side of the room._

_ "Yeah," Adrien confirmed as he looked back at the shining photo of himself and his mom._

_ "Well, I can tell you that you look like her. You have her eyes and her smile," Marinette smiled._

_ "Yeah," Adrien said softly. "Thank you for listening to my rambling."_

_ "You're welcome," she said._

_ They talked for a short while longer before Adrien had gotten sleepy. Marinette helped him to his bed where he quickly fell asleep. Marinette quietly transformed into Ladybug and left Adrien's room through a window, carefully using her yoyo to hold herself steady as she quietly closed it behind her. She launched herself through the city and back to her home where she remained occupied for the remainder of the night._

Marinette's thoughts of the previous evening were quickly pushed aside when it dawned on her that she had been replaying them over and over until their lunch period. Alya gave her a puzzled expression when she looked distracted, but Marinette dismissed it quickly. They walked alongside other students up to the cafeteria where they grabbed their lunches.

"Marinette, I have got to ask," Alya started out. "That scarf Adrien got yesterday, I know you made it. Why did you let him think his dad gave it to him?"

"Alya, I saw how happy the thought of his dad giving it to him made him. We had already said that we all just wanted to see him happy, and so, what's the harm?" Marinette asked.

"He's going to find out eventually," Alya said pointedly.

"Yeah, I know. It's okay," Marinette smiled.

That was as far as Marinette would allow the conversation to go. Lunch finished up, and before she knew it she was finding out about an akuma attack. She dismissed herself from the other students and found a hiding spot to transform in. Sneaking herself out, she went on to go and take down the akuma.

That evening Marinette sluggishly made her way back home. She slowly walked back into the bakery where her mom handed her schoolbag that Alya had brought home from class. It startled her to think that she had managed to fully forget the bag in their classroom. She made her way up to her room where she pulled out her tablet and found a small note.

_ Call me, I know who the real Ladybug is! -Alya_

Marinette had already known all about Alya's investigation into Ladybug. She had told her plenty of times that she was going to figure it out, write articles based on her findings, and eventually score an interview with the superheroine. Marinette had always kept a cool and collected grin whenever Alya talked about it. However this little note scared her a little. Did Alya actually discover her true identity or was she assuming it was someone entirely different?

Marinette quickly picked up her phone and began to dial Alya's number before realizing she had no signal. Frustrated, she seemingly danced across her room raising her phone to the ceiling where she still found no success. She walked over to her bed and climbed up before popping her head through the little window leading up to her balcony. She still didn't find a signal. She walked over and peaked over to the side of the building that had the cell tower but was only greeted with a maintenance worker.

Looking up at her, the worker simply frowned. 

"Sorry miss. There's cell tower maintenance that will leave this neighborhood's service down for an hour," he said before turning his attention back to his work.

Marinette frowned and walked back to the little skylight and slipped back into her bedroom. She walked herself to her desk and settled into her seat, working on her homework throughout the night. 

When she woke up in the morning, she found herself laying her head down on her desk. Frantic, she checked her clock and realized she was almost an hour late for school. Running to her bathroom, she quickly freshened herself up by brushing her teeth, fixing her hair and applying as much perfume as possible. She ran back to grab her school bag where Tikki flew to and ran downstairs, out the door, and across the street to the school. 

She snuck slowly into her homeroom, hoping beyond all hope that Mlle. Bustier didn't notice her extremely late arrival. Adrien and Nino both looked over to her as she quietly walked up to her seat. She looked beside her seat and cocked her head in confusion. It was currently empty, and that seat was never empty.

Marinette leaned forward and nudged Nino's shoulder.

"Where is Alya?" she asked and Nino just rolled his eyes.

"Suspended," he said.

"What!" Marinette exclaimed and Mlle. Bustier immediately turned around.

"Marinette, please, if you plan on coming to class late, please do so quietly," she stated before turning back around to write on the board.

"Sorry," Marinette said sheepishly.

"Yeah, she thinks that Chloé of people is the real Ladybug," Nino said.

"Wait what?" Marinette asked and it was at a far too loud volume. Everyone in the classroom turned to look at her and Mlle. Bustier was clearly upset.

"Marinette, go to the principal's office, now," Mlle. Bustier said and pointed to the door.

Marinette looked to both Nino and Adrien before picking her belongings back up and walking to the door. She simply looked back once to see Mlle. Bustier turned back towards the board and other students still having a lingering gaze in her direction. She walked through the halls until she reached Mr. Damocles' office. She knocked on the door but she didn't her a response. She knocked once more but still received no response.

She opened the door and leaned in only to see Mr. Damocles' frozen in place. She walked closer to him and waved a hand in front of him. He remained frozen and out of the corner of her eye, Marinette saw the screen of his computer light up. She turned her attention to it and watched as a girl that was under the influence of an akuma appeared on the screen.

"I'm Ladywifi and exposing the truth. Our first topic of the day is something your principal would like to confess," the girl said and the view changed to show both her and the man frozen in time. "Mr. Damocles. This morning you suspended a girl named Alya. Is it true that you wrongfully suspended her?" 

"It is," he said as he looked down.

"So you admit that you displayed actions of bias, you were unfair and unjust?" Ladywifi asked and Marinette noticed the little charm on the phone she held.

_ Alya_, Marinette thought to herself.

"Yes, I was," Mr. Damocles said.

Marinette had stopped paying attention by that point and quickly opened her little purse. Tikki flew out and looked at the screen concerned before transforming. She walked back out of Damocles' office and looked through the sea of kids flooding out of classrooms. She finally found Adrien and watched as he slipped into the boys bathrooms. Moments later when students had fled outside of the walls of the building, Chat Noir emerged and looked around.

They met each others eyes and Ladybug swung down to the courtyard where Chat ran to meet her in the middle. 

"I'm assuming you saw the video?" Chat asked.

"I transformed once I realized it was Alya. I didn't pay attention after Damocles' confession," she responded.

"She's planning to expose the girl under the mask."

"And she thinks that it's Chloé."

"Which means that we need to get over there as fast as we can."

"Come on, let's go," Ladybug said they used their weapons to launch themselves across the city in the direction of Le Grand Paris.

They perched themselves on the roof of a nearby building and kept a constant eye on Chloé's room. Ladybug used her yoyo and Chat used his baton to have a zoomed in look at the room.

"She can't actually believe that Chloé's the real Ladybug, can she?" Ladybug asked.

"I mean, I have already known who you are so I can't really speak on that mystery aspect. But, it's Alya. She wants to crack the code. She has an entire blog dedicated to you, M," Chat said and he looked over to her.

"Yeah, but I feel it's more obvious that she's nothing more than a die hard fan, a copycat if you will," she shrugged and looked over at him.

"I guess. It'll be a surprise when Alya discovers it's not her," Chat smirked.

From across the way, Ladybug and Chat watched as bright flash illuminated Chloé's room. They gave each other a quick look before launching themselves over to hotel. In the distance they could hear one of Ladywifi's broadcasts sounding off, but they didn't let it stop them. They continued on and launched themselves onto the balcony outside of Chloé's room. Kicking down the door, they watched as Ladywifi had confusion wash over her.

"Who are you?" she asked staring at Ladybug. "But I thought you were Ladybug," she said looking at Chloé's frozen body.

"Sorry to burst your bubble, but you should probably check your facts," Chat said with a cheeky grin.

Angrily, Ladywifi used her phone to cancel the broadcast and unfreeze Chloé. She turned her attention to Ladybug and grinned mischievously. 

"I suppose we'll just have to figure out who you really are," Ladywifi said as she began to use her phones to send flying pauses in Ladybug's direction.

Ladybug continuously jumped out of the way, dodging each attack as they happened. She caught Chat's eye contact and immediately directed him to follow her. He did so and they both distracted Ladywifi for a moment. They ran out of the door and down the hallway where Ladywifi chased after them. Pushing themselves into the stairwell, they went down further and further.

"What exactly are we doing?" Chat asked.

"Well, she's using a phone with service. The lower we go, the less service she'll have. The goal is to get to the spot with no service," she said as the managed to get themselves to the lowest level. "Get ready."

Chat prepared his baton and watched as Ladybug used her yoyo. They both looked up towards the higher levels in the stairwell waiting for Ladywifi to reappear. 

"So what caused you to be late this morning?" he asked and she gave him a small glare.

"This isn't the time for you to start interrogating me," she said as she let her gaze return to the stairwell.

There was a sudden sound of a closing door and both heroes realized that Ladywifi had left the stairwell. They gave each other a simple look before running up the stairs, greeted at every level's door with a locked door. They eventually made their way to an unlocked door.

"This one's open," Chat said and Ladybug looked over to him.

"Prepare for her to ambush, in three... two... one."

They both drew their weapons as Ladybug kicked open the door leading to the grand restaurant. They both loosened their stances when they realized that there was no immediate ambush. They exchanged a look before retracting their weapons and slowly walking through the eerily quiet restaurant. Ladybug noticed that on each table there was a phone.

"What is up with all the phones?" she asked and Chat shrugged.

Suddenly, one of the phones illuminated the room with bright light and Ladywifi emerged. She began to instantly use her phone to through pauses at Ladybug. She began to send attacks in Chat's direction too, which led to him crashing against one of the walls and tumbling to the ground. Ladybug quickly used her yoyo to try and trap Ladywifi. The only response given was Ladywifi showing her power by fading from phone to phone, pixels surrounding her frame the entire time. 

"You can't catch me," Ladywifi taunted.

"Oh yes I can," Ladybug said and she walked throughout the tables, swinging her yoyo between each table and destroying each phone in the process. 

Ladywifi ran in the direction of the kitchen and Ladybug followed closely on her heel. In a split second, both girls were in the kitchen and trapped due to Ladywifi throwing a lock and it hitting the door. 

"Hang on!" Ladybug could hear Chat yell from the other side. 

Ladybug used the different pots and pans throughout the kitchen as shields from Ladywifi's attacks. She leapt from a countertop and towards Ladywifi who simply used her pixel trick. Ladybug was sent flying against the wall where Ladywifi sent pauses flying and stuck her arms to the wall. Ladywifi smirked as she started a new broadcast.

"Ladybug. Is she a superhero? Is she a weirdo? Who is she under the mask? You deserve to know," Ladywifi began as she started to tug on Ladybug's mask.

It hurt to have her face squeezed and messed with. Her mask wasn't just going to come off and it was as if Ladywifi, who had a mask of her own, could not figure that simple fact out. 

"Why won't it come off?"Ladywifi asked her angrily.

"It's magic," Ladybug stated almost unamused.

Out of nowhere, the service elevator opened and Chat Noir emerged. Ladywifi looked over and rolled her eyes.

"Now isn't that precious. The tomcat came to save his lovebug," Ladywifi mocked.

Chat and Ladybug exchanged a look and both looked at Ladywifi in frustration.

"I'm not his lovebug," Ladybug groaned.

"And I am not a tomcat," Chat Noir said with a groan all his own.

Without warning or any taunting, Ladywifi immediately began to send attacks in Chat's direction. He successfully moved himself away from the first attack, but was knocked off balance by the second attack. He fell into the freezer which Ladywifi used a lock attack to lock him inside. As he collapsed to the ground, his ring fell off and he transformed, Plagg flying out and looking over at him with a groggy expression. He began to frantically search for his ring.

Outside of the freezer, Ladywifi released the locks on Ladybug's hands. She disappeared with a simple sarcastic good luck sentiment about getting Chat out of the freezer. Puzzled, Ladybug stared at where Ladywifi had just stood. She quickly focused her attention back onto Chat's location. She ran over to the freezer and used her feet and fists to try and bust open the door.

"I'll get you out of there!" she yelled to Chat.

"Take your time," he responded in a pitiful tone. 

Instinctively, she used her lucky charm which produced a metal lunchbox. Puzzled, she looked around the room to anything that could help. She saw the microwave and it clicked. She ran and grabbed a cart, pushing it to the microwave. She put the metal box inside the microwave and placed the machine on the cart she had found. She wheeled the setup over to the freezer where she plugged it in and turned it on high. She ducked for cover praying that she did what she was supposed to do.

The lock on the door fizzled out and she was able to open the door, Chat collapsing into her in the process. She held him and looked at him.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"I'm fine. You used your lucky charm for that?" he asked.

"Yeah," she smiled and helped him to stand up.

"Can you zap open the front door?" he asked and Ladybug simply shook her head.

"The microwave's busted," she responded before looking around at what they did have available. An idea clicked and she quickly whispered it to him.

Chat quickly sprung into action by covering the broadcast and fizzling it out. She quickly ushered him over to the service elevator where he looked over to her.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked.

"Yes, just trust me," she said. 

With that, the service elevator closed and Chat was on his way to destroy the cell service tower. All Ladybug could do was sit and wait. Each moment began to feel like an eternity as she waited for him to return. She had no idea if he had gotten stopped by Ladywifi, if he was stuck in the elevator, or what was going on. 

Soon enough the lock and broadcast disappeared and Ladybug was able to escape the kitchen at last. She quickly got herself to the rooftop where Ladywifi and Chat were in the middle of fight for the phone. Ladybug simply used her yoyo and yanked Ladywifi backwards. She quickly caught the phone and she threw it to the ground, breaking it. 

She purified the akuma and used the lucky charm's restoration power. Chat and Ladybug fist bumped as Alya quickly looked up and stood up in amazement.

"The real Ladybug and Chat Noir? This is incredible! Could I get a quick interview? Just let me grab my phone," Alya said turning her back.

Ladybug's earrings beeped once more and Chat directed her attention to it. They slipped out before Alya could noticed and raced to a private storage room in the lobby. They quickly released their transformations and looked at one another.

"Good work out there," Adrien smiled.

"Are you seriously okay? You actually got locked in a freezer," Marinette responded as she shook her head.

"I'm fine. I don't want to ever do that again, but I'm still okay," he laughed.

"Be safe getting back home," Marinette said looking up at him.

"Make it to school on time tomorrow," Adrien smirked earning a groan from her.

"Don't nag me," she complained.

They quietly exited the hotel and went their separate ways. Adrien kept the little promise to stay safe on his way back to the large, empty mansion. Marinette kept her promise the next morning and made it to school on time.

"Hopefully no akuma attacks today, right?" Adrien asked as Marinette passed his seat.

"One can hope. That was a rough few days," she smiled.

"Yeah," Adrien smiled as class began.

Marinette took her seat and felt a warm feeling in her chest after talking to Adrien. She felt proud to be able to call him a friend. She felt proud he had opened up. She felt honored to be trusted by _the_ Adrien Agreste: teen model. 

As Mlle. Bustier began the class's lesson for that day, Marinette beamed every so often down at her favorite blond.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading the fourth chapter of Not So Secret! Just to let those from tumblr know, I do have an account that I am playing to be more active on! I have really enjoyed working on this AU and I have more that I want/plan to do in the future! If you'd like you can follow me at 'alwayscleverlyme'!   
\- xoxo Alli


End file.
